Collection Guide
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Guide to the San Diego Sheet Music Collection
MS 248
MS 248
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Table of contents
Title: San Diego Sheet Music Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MS 248
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1889-1984
Abstract: This collection contains sheet music from 1889 to 1984, many of which were written about San Diego or created by composers
or publishers with a connection to San Diego.
creator:
San Diego Historical Society.
The collection is arranged into six series:
Series I: Songs About San Diego
Series II: Songs Created by San Diego Residents
Series III: Songs Published in San Diego
Series IV: San Diego Miscellanea
Series V: California Songs
Series VI: Miscellanea
Items in each series are arranged alphabetically by song title, with the exception of items in Series II which are arranged
alphabetically by last name of the creator.
Itemized database of sheet music can be accessed at the San Diego History Center Library.
San Diego Sheet Music Collection, MS 248, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Collection processed by Sean Flores on December 14, 2011.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Itemized database of sheet music can be accessed at the San Diego History Center Library.
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
This collection contains sheet music from 1889 to 1984. Each music score contains music notation, words, composer and publisher
credits. The majority of the music scores in this collection are written about San Diego or California. Many of the scores
were written for expositions held in San Diego: the 1915 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935 California Pacific Exposition
San Diego also known as “America’s Exposition.”
Several scores about the U.S. Army’s 40th “Sunshine” Division encamped at Camp Kearny during World War I are also included
in this collection. Composer and San Diego resident, Esther Mugan Bush, known for her song “The Silver Strand Waltz” and many
other songs about San Diego, composed a song dedicated to Camp Kearny’s 40th Sunshine division entitled, “The Song of the
Sunshine Boys.”
Sheet music featuring notable singers and songwriters such as the internationally known opera singer, Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
and compositions written by Carrie Jacobs-Bond, Charles Wakefield Cadman, Gloria Gage, Lydia Fossler Frank, and Vashti Rogers
Griffin from San Diego are also contained in this collection.
Biographical / Historical Notes
Throughout San Diego’s development there have been songs written in tribute to its history and beauty. This collection features
many songs written about San Diego that date back to the early twentieth century, as well as some as far back as the late
nineteenth century.
Composer and San Diego resident, Cassius M. Loomis, wrote a song for San Diego, “San Diego’s Welcome,” that became the national
song and march of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.
Residents of San Diego provided a wealth of music to the rest of the world as well. The 1914 song “Mammy’s Li'l' Baby” was
written specifically for world renowned opera singer and San Diego resident, Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink. Throughout her
lifetime, Madame Schumann-Heink held many concerts in San Diego’s Horton Plaza, and her single performance for the 1915 Panama-California
Exposition attracted 28,000 people. Madame Schumann-Heink , along with fellow San Diego resident musicians Carrie Jacobs Bond
and Charles Wakefield Cadman, each had a day of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition dedicated to them, and also have sheet
music represented in this collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Bush, Esther Mugan
Cadman, Charles Wakefield, 1881-1946
California Pacific International Exposition (1935-1936 : San Diego, Calif.).
Frank, Lydia Fossler
Gage, Gloria
Griffin, Vashti Rogers
Jacobs-Bond, Carrie, 1862-1946
Loomis, Cassius M.
Panama-California Exposition (1915 : San Diego, Calif.).
Panama-California International Exposition (1916 : San Diego, Calif.).
Shumann-Heink, Ernestine, 1861-1936
United States. Army. Division, 40th.
Balboa Park (San Diego, Calif.)
San Diego (Calif.)